Puerto Rican team follows Arroyo's lead

BASKETBALL

The Magic reserve gets big minutes as the floor general for his national squad.

August 25, 2007|By Keith Freeman, Special to the Sentinel

LAS VEGAS -- Magic backup point guard Carlos Arroyo's role with Orlando in 2006-07 didn't allow him to perform as a floor general, because he simply was not given the playing time -- averaging 18 minutes per 48-minute contest. He ended the season averaging eight points, three assists and two rebounds per game.

But leading Puerto Rico at the FIBA Americas Championship is a different, yet familiar, role for Arroyo -- one that he relishes.

Arroyo got his national team off to a great start from behind the 3-point line Friday night, making three in the first quarter. It wasn't enough, though, as Puerto Rico fell to Argentina 87-75.

But the game, like Thursday's 108-67 win over Panama, shows Arroyo as a player in confident control of his abilities.

As the third eldest player on the squad and a point guard, the 28-year-old Arroyo finds himself performing as a coach on the floor.

"It is a lot of fun when you are playing with young guys who are hungry to learn and to win," said Arroyo. "And that's the most important thing; you have got to have everyone on the same page and be motivated to be better every night. And that's what this team is all about."

Against Panama, Arroyo played for just over 29 minutes of a 40-minute game.

"Obviously, I'm out there playing more minutes," said Arroyo about his role with Puerto Rico. "It's an adaptive situation. I've got to adapt to whatever when I'm in Orlando and I've got to adapt to whatever here.

"Here, they need me to do a little bit more than what I do in Orlando, and they gave me that confidence to be out there and run the show and get my teammates involved, and get myself involved, too."

The Puerto Rican squad suffered a setback in its first game Wednesday, losing 100-89 to Mexico, the first upset of the tournament.

Arroyo only had four points and two assists against Mexico, but he came back on Thursday with 16 points, eight assists and five rebounds against Panama.

"It was a wakeup call, definitely," said Arroyo about losing to Mexico. "We need to understand that not every night we're going to play a high-level game, but we need to stay focused on what we are trying to accomplish as a team.

"Offensively we need to stay focused on our game plan and our system and trust each other. Yesterday, we didn't defend nobody; we didn't get the shots that we wanted. But today it was a different team.

"Mexico played a great game, but I don't think we were in our A game. I think today everybody was a little bit more focused on what we were trying to accomplish and everybody contributed."

In Friday night's loss, John Peter Ramos, Puerto Rico's 7-foot-2 center who played briefly for the Washington Wizards in 2004-05, had eight points and 12 rebounds, but he fouled out with 9:10 to play on a charging call. He injured his left leg on the play and had to be helped to the bench. There was no immediate update on his condition.

Puerto Rico is 1-2 at the FIBA Americas. The team plays Uruguay at 8:30 p.m. tonight.